A Forum for Orthodox Jewish thought on Halacha, Hashkafa, and the social issues of our time.

Monday, November 30, 2015

Israel Is Not the Enemy

Stop hating us! Stop lying about us! Stop killing us! This is my message to the Palestinian people
- and to all Muslims and Arabs if they really want peace.

One thing needs to be
made perfectly clear. The current violence against innocent people in Israel
has long ago passed the point of being a response to the events that I and many
others believe precipitated it. The haters among them have found a way to kill
us in a consistent and steady daily flow. They have succeeded in instilling morbid fear into us. It is virtually impossible to walk out of your house in
Israel without the fear of being violently attacked to the point of serious
injury or even death.

As I have said countless times - the attackers have been
indoctrinated with over a century of Jew hatred. A hatred based on the view that
Jews do not have a right to a country in Palestine (which is how they think of
Israel.) To them we are evil infidels of the worst kind – Jews. Jews that have
forced their way into their homeland and displaced indigenous residents.

They opine, what
right did we have to do that to them? Palestine is their land?! They have been
there for centuries, long before Jewish imperialists calling themselves
Zionists came into the land claiming false historical rights. And using their money
to buy up land in Palestine from absentee Arab owners who couldn’t care less for their
Palestinian brothers. Palestinians that have lived on that land for centuries. Suddenly they
were kicked out by Jews with new deeds claiming ownership.

Every Muslim knows that Palestine belongs to the descendants
of Ishmael. This is what it says in the Koran. The Biblical claim that Israel was promised to Isaac? Lies! - Jews distorting the truth in their bible.

Every child is taught that Jews are blood thirsty
devils out to rule the world starting with the usurpation of Palestine. How do they know? Just
read the protocols of the Elders of Zion for the truth! Arabs are thus taught to despise the international Jew with designs to
take over the world. They are weaned on this kind of thinking. They are indoctrinated to see Jews the way Hitler saw us. Which the
reason Mein Kampf is such a big seller in Middle Eastern countries, Even in relatively friendly ones like Egypt – with whom Israel has diplomatic relations.

Cartoons that Muslim children watch depict
Jews as monsters. This is the kind of propaganda that permeats the culture.Childre are taught to hate Jew practically from the womb. Is there any real wonder why young Arabs are jumping out of the woodwork with knives
and stabbing innocent Jews? For them, there ARE no innocent Jews. In Iran Israel is considered worse than ISIS.

To illustrate just how matter of fact all of this is, an 11 year old
Palestinian boy recently attacked some Jews with a knife. After he was apprehended his response
was that he just wanted to go back to playing with his friends. As though he
didn’t really do anything all that wrong and didn’t understand what all the
fuss was about!

These are the real reasons they want to kill us. It is the
reason that the Mufti of Jerusalem supported Hitler’s decision to exterminate the
Jews. He viewed it as the best way to prevent us from the outrage of taking Palestine away from the Arabs – the legitimate owners dating back to biblical times.

But perhaps things might be changing a bit in the Arab
world. Editorials by formerly implacable Arab enemies are beginning to sing a different tune. An editorial in a Saudi publication actually urged the President to listen to Prime
Mister Netanyahu during the debate over the Iran Nuclear deal. And just last week Israel announced that they are setting up a diplomatic level mission in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.

All this is a reaction to ISIS. They are beginning to see Israel in more practical terms rather than ideological terms. Israel has never had any designs to take over Arab countries and turn them into versions of their religion. It is ISIS that is trying to do that.

This is all well and good. But the violent attacks in Israel
are ongoing. And they will no doubt continue as long as they see how
successful they are in their ultimate goal of destroying the Jews and retaking Palestine. This is all based on centuries of teaching hatred of the Jew. And it has to be untaught.

It is time for the Arab Nations to
see what Abu Dhabi sees – that Israel is not the enemy. This should be the new educational paradigm for the Arab peoples. In the homes, in the schools, in the mosques, and in the culture.

They must stop selling ‘The Protocols’ as truth and label it the lie that it
is. They must stop children’s programming that depict Jewish cartoon characters
as monsters. They must stop adult TV productions that do the same, and replace it all with
the truth – that Israel is not the enemy; that if you stop killing us, we just
may be able to have a true peace between the nations of the Middle East. A warm
peace of international trade and cooperation that will produce prosperity for
the entire region. Won’t that be better than what we have now?

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About Me

My outlook on Judaism is based mostly on the teachings of my primary Rebbe, Rabbi Aaron Soloveichik from whom I received my rabbinic ordination. It is also based on a search for spiritual truth. Among the various sources that put me on the right path, two great philosophic works stand out: “Halakhic Man” and “Lonely Man of Faith” authored by the pre-eminent Jewish philosopher and theologian, Rabbi, Dr. Joseph B. Soloveitchik. Of great significance is Rabbi, Dr. Norman Lamm's conceptualization and models of Torah U’Mada and Dr. Eliezer Berkovits who introduced me to the world of philosophic thought. Among my early influences were two pioneers of American Elementary Torah Chinuch, Rabbis Shmuel Kaufman and Yaakov Levi. The Yeshivos I attended were Yeshivas Telshe for early high school and more significantly, the Hebrew Theological College where for a period of ten years, my Rebbeim included such great Rabbinic figures as Rabbis Mordechai Rogov, Shmaryahu Meltzer, Yaakov Perlow, Herzl Kaplan, and Selig Starr. I also attended Roosevelt University where I received my Bachelor's Degree - majoring in Psychology.